


The Weight

by botanicapoetica



Series: Call & Respond [4]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Sleepovers, billy needs a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-10 06:35:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12906216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/botanicapoetica/pseuds/botanicapoetica
Summary: Game night was something Joyce always looked forward to. She loved the feeling of a full house, the warmth of all her kids in one place safe and sound. She got the chance to putter around and dote on Will to the point of embarrassment, but no one was really exempt from the Joyce Beyers treatment.





	The Weight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [inkyreveries](https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkyreveries/gifts).



Game night was something Joyce always looked forward to. She loved the feeling of a full house, the warmth of all her kids in one place safe and sound. She got the chance to putter around and dote on Will to the point of embarrassment, but no one was really exempt from the Joyce Beyers treatment. She sat on the armrest of the couch, coffee in hand, watching the kids all gathered around their board on the living room floor, and shared a look with Steve across the room. 

Steve was a sweet kid with a big heart. Joyce remembered Hopper coming over a few weeks ago, ranting mostly to himself, something about building a false root cellar to keep more kids in. Steve had apparently really stepped up for one of his friends, picking him up from the hospital and taking him off of Hopper’s hands. She saw a lot of herself in Steve sometimes, and tried to remind him of how appreciated he was when he wasn’t too shy to receive it. 

Joyce was turned from her thoughts by a heavy knock on the door. By the disappointed groans, the loudest being Max, she assumed it was her brother to pick her up. Steve made to stand up but Joyce waved him off, hauling herself up and walking to the door. Standing on her porch was a boy she would’ve lost her mind over in high school, all charm and danger. At her age now, though, she could see through boys like this for what they were; either rotten or scared. She hoped that Hopper was right and the kid was the latter. “You must be Billy, we haven’t gotten to meet.” She said with a smile, reaching out to shake the boy’s hand. 

“Ma’am.” Billy said shortly, returning her handshake. She took in the small hint of a dark bruise hiding under the boy’s jacket when she glanced at their joined hands, saw the brownish tint of an older one on his jaw, and frowned. “Do you want to come in for a minute before you go? There’s still some food left over.” Joyce pushed, watching Billy shake his head with some disappointment. 

“I’m a little late to get Max already, we really need to head out.”

It would’ve been a fairly normal response from a teenager but Joyce saw the nervous energy in his eyes and her gears were turning furiously. “Come on in, sweetie.” She said, ushering him inside with no chance to argue. The kids barely looked up, clearly trying to stall the game a little longer until they were properly addressed, but Joyce watched Steve’s eyes soften instantly. “So guys, it’s a Friday. I thought we could have a sleepover, have Billy stay here to give Steve some adult company. Max, don’t worry, I’ll call your mom and let her know you two won’t be back until the morning. What do you say? There may or may not be a freezer full of ice cream somewhere in here...” 

Her words were met with raucous applause and excitement and she felt that same maternal warmth course through her. She watched with satisfaction as the tension seemed to leave Billy’s shoulders, Steve coming up to put a hand on his back and start joking about something she was probably too old to get. She busied herself with phone calls home, noting that Susan Hargrove had a very similar relieved response at the news. 

The kids’ game went on a few hours more, with Steve and Billy sitting on the couch, Billy turning his smile into something more mischievous every time he got Steve flustered. Joyce felt wrong intruding too much, continuing to keep herself occupied by bringing out stacks of quilts and pillows, letting the kids choose their bedding and lay it out. She knew they were all too old but she couldn’t help it, circling the living room to tuck each of them in with a kiss to their heads, secretly loving the way they all ducked away with pink faces. Steve and Billy were nowhere to be seen though, so Joyce searched the house until she heard voices on the porch, standing outside the door to eavesdrop a little. 

“Hopper told you, Billy, if you just file-“

“Steve, fuck off. I don’t need you two conspiring to fucking rescue me.”

“We’re not-Jesus Christ, Billy. He just cares. I care, you know how much I-“

“Yeah, until you graduate and move on from the mutt you’ve been nursing back to health.”

Joyce drew back as the door flew open, Steve schooling his face into something other than the fierce irritation he’d had a moment before. He shot her an apologetic look and shuffled past her to his bedding, throwing the blankets over himself angrily. Joyce looked through the door and grabbed a spare blanket herself on her way outside at the sight of Billy sitting outside without anything but a t-shirt on. These children were hopeless. 

Draping the blanket over the boy’s back and choosing to ignore the flinch that he reacted with, Joyce sat down next to him, holding a hand out. “Got one I can bum?” Billy fished his pack out of the front pocket of his shirt, pulling a cigarette out for her and lighting it. She took a long drag, exhaling with her eyes on the boy, taking in his stubbornly set jaw. 

“I was married once, his name was Lonnie. He was meaner than spit to me, and he took it out on the boys sometimes. I still remember the day I kicked him out. I realized one day that he was never going to stop, that he’d probably get bored of just firing at me and would turn it on the boys as they got older. People told me to leave him before that but I didn’t listen because they just didn’t understand. You have your reasons to stay, and then hopefully, eventually, you have your reasons for leaving.” 

Joyce watched Billy deflate a bit, recognized the sad and exhausted look on his face. Without thinking on it another second she reached her arms around the boy, trying with all her might to enclose him in her hold. She felt him stiffen but she continued on, using one hand to run along the back of his head, resting her chin on his shoulder and whispering in his ear, “Not a trick. It’s not a trick.”

It seemed like it was the right thing to say because Billy’s head rested on hers after that, a large sigh leaving him. They sat there for a long time, their cigarettes forgotten and burnt out on the steps, until Joyce felt Billy’s body sag with tiredness. She reluctantly pulled back to let them both stand up but grasped his hand and held it as they walked in, surprised he’d let her, squeezing her hand once in thanks before walking to his own bedding next to Steve’s. Joyce looked down on her kids, sprawled all over each other and faces soft with sleep, watched Steve’s hand sleepily reach out and close around Billy’s shoulder. She waited until she saw Billy’s eyes close, a small upturn of his lips, and took her leave. 

Safe and sound. All of them.

**Author's Note:**

> Come tell me things at botanicapoetica.tumblr.com


End file.
